In the
last few years he has tried to: research the Swedish model in hopes of getting
Holland interested in this (together with Myrthe Hilkens from the PVDA), tried to
criminalize clients that ‘should have known’ they were using the services of a victim, and recently did a second attempt at introducing a pimp ban, of which even the National Rapporteur Human Trafficking has just stated this is unnecessary, since the law already offers enough tools to do this with the current human trafficking law, just like I stated earlier.
All
these measures sound good at first maybe, trying to protect victims, but that’s
exactly the problem. They ‘look’ good, but in reality they are not, because
they criminalize things, pushing them underground, making it more difficult to
help victims instead of easier. For Gert-Jan Segers of course this is the whole
point, the more he will push prostitution underground, the more problems it
will cause in prostitution, the more he can claim he was right that ‘prostitution
wasn't a normal job'.
His
request to compare human trafficking statistics from other countries with Holland in an attempt to prove that the
Dutch legalization of prostitution in Holland has ‘failed’ is another one of those things. At
first you might think this is a good idea, to compare ourselves with other
countries, to see if the Dutch model has been a success or not. But that’s only
to the naked eye.
Because
there’s a huge problem with comparing these kind of things. Different countries
use different definitions of human trafficking, making it impossible to compare
them. Poor statistical research and incompatible definitions make it impossible
to compare these things, and will therefore create a false image.
The
result of this research would be useless, since the very basis of the research
is already flawed, namely the incompatible data. No doubt it would say that Dutch human trafficking
statistics are higher, but that doesn't mean that this is really the case.
There’s a huge difference between what countries register on paper, and what is
happening in reality, which all comes down to how you define things and register them, and what type of prostitution model the country uses.
Of
course Gert-Jan Segers is well aware of this, as this is exactly his goal. Using
a flawed research which gives a false image about reality, in an attempt to ‘prove’
that the legalization of prostitution in Holland has ‘failed’. He however hopes
to deceive other politicians with this flawed research of incompatible data
sets in an attempt to criminalize (parts of) sex work, for moral and religious reasons.
To point
this out to politicians the (soon to be official) Dutch sex workers organization
PROUD has written a letter. The letter also has been signed by the ICRSE
(International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers Europe), and almost 50
experts and human right activist on the subject of prostitution and/or human trafficking as well as various other organisations with knowledge about sex work ,
to point out the flaws of making such a research.
I am a
member of PROUD myself, and have been with them since the very first meeting. The people of PROUD have morally supported me the past year with writing my blog, and I
fully support their goals and this letter they have written. Therefore I strongly advice
everyone, especially politicians to read this letter and stop a pointless and flawed research from being made, which could be used for the wrong reasons.
I am PROUD to be part of an organisation that is filling in the gap De Rode Draad has left after they went bankrupt in 2012, because they didn't receive any funding anymore. PROUD represent my voice, as well as many other sex workers that are part of this organisations, that are trying to improve the rights for sex workers in Holland.
I am PROUD to be part of an organisation that is filling in the gap De Rode Draad has left after they went bankrupt in 2012, because they didn't receive any funding anymore. PROUD represent my voice, as well as many other sex workers that are part of this organisations, that are trying to improve the rights for sex workers in Holland.
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